Cycling czar? I’d love that job, says Olympic hero Chris Boardman

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The Olympic champion Chris Boardman said that if asked to become the
Government’s cycling chief he would “bite their arm off” — but only if he
were given real power to reform Britain’s streets.

Boardman, who won individual pursuit gold at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, said
that cycling was approaching a “watershed moment” and that the Government
needed to set definite targets and show leadership in getting more people to
travel by bike.

When asked if he would encourage the appointment of a “cycling czar” and
consider such a role himself, he said: “Absolutely, if that person was given
a mandate and given teeth to make changes and given a defined policy to
implement. I’d bite their arm off, so long as they could tell me exactly
what they wanted to achieve and what power they would give me to get the job
done.”

Boardman was speaking before his appearance at the Get Britain Cycling
inquiry, where he told MPs: “We would like to see cycling considered at the
planning stage of every junction in this country.”

Health experts told the inquiry that money spent on safe cycling measures was
the most cost-effective form of transport investment, recouping £4 in health
service savings for every £1 invested.

Adrian Davis, an NHS doctor and transport adviser, told MPs: “Other schemes
like High Speed rail and other road schemes score much less highly, so
cycling is a very good investment for value for money.”

Boardman said: “We are spending £4bn a year on obesity-related illnesses. We
could build a lot of cycle lanes for that.”

Boardman, representing British Cycling, told the inquiry that getting around
on two wheels had become fashionable. “The demand is there and it makes
sense, but I need to be happy to let my kids go out on the streets and ride
to the park. We need to make cycling appealing, make it safe through new
provision on the road, and make new policy and legislation to make people
feel safer.”

The Government only has a “finite amount of time” to capitalise on the Olympic
legacy, Boardman explained. He said that 15 per cent of journeys in Britain
were made by bicycle when London hosted the Olympics in 1948, compared with
2 per cent in 2012, adding that “perhaps we should go all the way back to
1948” for a cycling legacy.

Boardman also criticised the Government for only giving “one-off lumps” of
funding for cycle lanes, rather than committing to a “long-term strategy”.

The champion cyclist resigned from the National Cycling Strategy Board,
feeling that it had no power. The board, established in 2000, was replaced
by Cycling England, which was scrapped by the Government in 2011.

Only since retiring from professional racing in 2000 has he focused on the
lack of cycle lanes. “I used to just get on with it and had to work really
hard to find roads to train on,” he said. “But now I’m asking: why is it
like that? We have a huge opportunity to ask questions like this now.”

Norman Baker, a transport minister, welcomed Boardman’s support, but Downing
Street said that there were no plans to appoint a cycling chief.

The parliamentary inquiry is funded by a £10,000 donation from News
International, parent company of The Times.

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Chris Boardman: 'I need to be happy to let my kids out on the streets'

February 14 2013 Times photographer, Marc Aspland

Chris Boardman: 'I need to be happy to let my kids out on the streets'

February 14 2013 Times photographer, Marc Aspland

Downing Street said that there were no plans to appoint a cycling chief